Alor diving

Alor dive sites

Alor diving is remote with a capital R. The small island to the east of Flores is not visited by many divers, most liveaboards don’t get this far. Divers that do make the effort are rewarded with some spectacular and varied diving.

The remoteness of Alor is a big plus to many seasoned divers who are tired of other crowded dive destinations. Conservative dive profiles are a good idea as the nearest medical facilities are a long way off.

Dive sites around Alor and nearby islands Pura, Payar, Ternate and Buaya attract large schools of fish like barracuda, tuna and trevally as well as sharks, rays and large grouper. The area is also renowned for it’s superb critter diving. Visibility is usually excellent. The area is more suited to experienced divers due to the strong currents.

Kals’s Dream

The most famous dive site in Alor is Kal’s Dream. It’s a submerged pinnacle that is exposed to extreme currents and is therefore dived at slack tide. In deeper areas it’s possible to see grey reef and black tip reef sharks although these are not as common as they once were. Hammerhead sharks have also been seen here on occasion. Schools of snapper and fusilier cover the reef along with a myriad of smaller reef fish.

Pura Island

Sharks Galore on the eastern side of Pura Island is a good dive site to see black tip reef and grey reef sharks.

Clown Valley, also on the eastern side of Pura Island is named for the proliferation of anemones and clown fish.

Mandarin House, on the north of Pura Island, is a good place to see mandarin fish on the shallow sloping reef. At sunset the mandarin fish can be seen mating.

The Boardroom is a deep wall down to 50m on the north of Pura Island. Caves in the wall are full of schools of fish.

Pertamina Pier is a wonderful Indonesian dive site that leaves divers searching for more superlatives to describe it. A black sand slope close to shore doesn’t sound that special but underwater it’s a critter hunters dream. Ghost pipefish, seahorse, wonderpus, pegasus sea moth are just a few of the small species that can be found on the bottom.

Nudibranchs are numerous and on night dives Spanish dancers can be seen. This is one of many great critter dives sites around Alor and there are many more sites yet to be discovered. In fact one gets the impression that wherever you jump in the water you could find amazing macro dives. Photographers will love it here.

Pantar Island

The Twilight Zone is another amazing black sand shore dive just off the beach at Biangabang Village, Pantar Island. Lava flows and underwater hot springs make for very nutrient rich water as can be seen by all the bioluminescence on night dives. Keen muck divers could spend a week at this beach alone, exploring it from deep to shallow. Swimming close to the seabed will unearth all manner of weird life including bobbit worms, snake eels, mimic octopus, Spanish dancers, Pegasus sea moths, spearing mantis shrimps and gurnard lionfish.